Words to God's Music: A New Book of Psalms

Words to God's Music: A New Book of Psalms

Words to God's Music is the first complete poet's version of the Psalter since Christopher Smart's 18th-century Psalms of David. Each of these 150 poems is a unique response to the corresponding biblical psalm, and speaks to and from the heart. Revised and corrected version of the acclaimed, out-of-print 2003 edition. These are not translations but 150 poetic reflections prompted by the Psalms. To the objection that this is not what a psalm actually says, the response is that this is what a psalm suggests, at least to Laurance Wieder, who is acutely attentive to inspired suggestiveness. -- First Things , March 2004 Wieder teaches readers the necessity of lingering over words as a lover lingers over every detail of the beloved's body. His poems shock and inspire; they move to tears and generate anger--just as biblical psalms do. --James Crenshaw, Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies Laurance Wieder...captures the music of devotion and doubt that all souls sing inside themselves in all ages, refashioning the old into something new, something eternal,...sublime and unforgettable. --Paul Auster In Babel, where the tower fell, strangers Do not speak our language. We were taken There in chains and, captive by the rivers, Told to sing them songs of Zion. Crushed, Could we sing Hebrew praises in translation? Even happy, when our children asked us Why this bread was eaten, and rehearsed The plagues God rained on Egypt's head, we hope To see Jerusalem. Jerusalem, My tongue would stick between my teeth, My right hand palsy, before I forget you. from Psalm 137 Laurance Wieder's other writings include  A Look Ahead: Selected Poems 1966-2018;   The Poets' Book of Psalm s ;  After Adam: The Books of Moses ;  Isaiah's Closing Arguments: A New Translation ; and a selection of essays,  Poetry History Music Art . His poems and essays have appeared in  The New Yorker ;  Scripsi ;  Paris Review ;  Books & Culture ;  The Weekly Standard ;  First Things , and elsewhere.